“For inspiration I would turn again and again to Lieutenant Jason C. Redman, a Navy SEAL who had been shot seven times and had undergone nearly two dozen surgeries. He had placed a hand drawn sign on the door to his room at Bethesda Naval Hospital. It read, ‘ATTENTION. To all who enter here: If you are coming into this room with sorrow or to feel sorry for my wounds, go elsewhere. The wounds I received I got in a job I love, doing it for people I love, supporting the freedom of a country I deeply love. I am incredibly tough and will make a full recovery. What is full? That is the absolute utmost physically my body has the ability to recover. Then I will push that about 20% further through sheer mental tenacity. This room you are about to enter is a room of fun, optimism, and intense rapid regrowth. If you are not prepared for that, go elsewhere. From: The Management.’”

former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates
Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War